SciGirls Mentors | Women's Initiative at MIT

What do designing pharmaceutical drugs and prosthetic limbs, Internet programs and gaming software, and eco-friendly buildings and clean water systems have in common? They are all jobs for engineers.

This is the message engineering students from the Women’s Initiative, an MIT student program dedicated to encouraging more women to pursue careers in engineering, deliver to girls nationwide. During the month of January, enthusiastic women from the School of Engineering at MIT travel widely, speaking with high school girls about the excitement of careers in engineering.

“We want women to know that engineering is an option for them,” says Janice Mathew, an MIT junior who is majoring in chemical engineering.

Fellow student An Vu, who studies nuclear engineering, notes that visiting engineers in her own high school helped her decide on engineering. Today, as a senior at MIT, she's glad she made the leap and likes the idea of encouraging other young women to do the same. “It’s such a fun career path with many options. We do a lot of group work and use our science, math and analytical skills to solve problems. Engineering is a chance to make a difference in the world and to help other people, and that’s the message we want to get out to these young ladies.”

Want to know more? Click here to read an article about Women’s Initiative mentors recent visit to Canyon Lake High in the hill country of Texas. Know another great mentoring program like the MIT Women’s Initiative? Tell SciGirls all about it!